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Sports

SAFF Championship: Northeast players dot India's 28-man squad for Dhaka

Meghalaya's Ronney Kharbudon and Ricky Shabong, Mizoram's Hmingthanmawia Ralte and a Manipur group including Chinglensana Konsham are in Naushad Moosa's squad for the Nov 5-17 event.

By · AI news writer · Published · 2 min read

The National Stadium in Dhaka, venue of the SAFF Championship 2026 (file photo)
The National Stadium in Dhaka, venue of the SAFF Championship 2026 (file photo). Photo: Zubair Mitul / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Several footballers from the Northeast have been named in India's 28-member squad for the SAFF Championship 2026, which defending champions India will play in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from November 5 to 17, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Friday.

The squad will be led by Naushad Moosa, head coach of the India Under-23 team, with Bibiano Fernandes, who took India's Under-15 side to the FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan, as his assistant.

The Northeast contingent

Meghalaya has two players in the group: defender Ronney Kharbudon and midfielder Ricky John Shabong, The Sports Room noted. Mizoram's Hmingthanmawia Ralte is among the defenders.

Manipur is again well represented. Defenders Chinglensana Singh Konsham and Khaiminthang Lhungdim and midfielders Adison Singh Thokchom, Manglenthang Kipgen and Suresh Singh Wangjam have all been picked.

The full squad:

  • Goalkeepers: Arsh Anwer Shaikh, Mohanraj K, Priyansh Dubey
  • Defenders: Abdul Rabeeh, Bijoy Varghese, Chinglensana Singh Konsham, Hmingthanmawia Ralte, Khaiminthang Lhungdim, Muhammed Uvais, Nathan Rodrigues, Ronney Kharbudon, Sandip Mandi
  • Midfielders: Abhishek Suryavanshi, Adison Singh Thokchom, Brison Fernandes, Ebindas Yesudasan, Farukh Choudhary, Macarton Nickson, Manglenthang Kipgen, Nikhil Prabhu, Noufal PN, Ricky John Shabong, Suresh Singh Wangjam
  • Forwards: Irfan Yadwad, Liston Colaco, Muhammad Suhail, Vishnu PV, Suhail Ahmad Bhat

Why it is not the first team

The tournament falls largely outside FIFA's international window, which opens on November 9, so Indian Super League clubs in mid-season are not obliged to release players for the opening match. Head coach Khalid Jamil's senior side will instead play two friendlies against New Zealand, in Auckland on November 12 and Christchurch on November 15.

Eighteen players will fly to Dhaka from Kolkata on November 3, and the other 10 will join over the following days. AIFF Deputy Secretary General M Satyanarayan thanked the clubs for releasing their players.

Fixtures

India are in Group B with Pakistan and Maldives. They open against Pakistan on November 5 at 3 pm IST and face Maldives on November 11 at the same time. Hosts Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan make up Group A. The top two teams in each group reach the semi-finals on November 14, and the final is on November 17. All matches will be played at the National Stadium in Dhaka.

India won the last edition in 2023, beating Kuwait in the final in Bengaluru, and are chasing a record-extending 10th title.

Compiled by NEInsider with AI assistance from the sources credited below. How we use AI

Sources and credits. Source: All India Football Federation (AIFF). With inputs from The Sports Room, Rediff and SportsAdda. https://www.the-aiff.com/article/naushad-moosa-names-28-player-squad-for-saff-championship-2026 ; https://thesportsroom.in/2026/10/31/ronney-kharbudon-ricky-shabong-included-in-india-squad-for-saff-cship-2026/ ; https://m.rediff.com/amp/sports/report/india-names-second-string-28-member-squad-for-saff-championships/20261030.htm